解脫道論 起滅智的通達與成滿

This passage asks two questions. Each receives a simile, and the two similes point in exactly opposite directions.

The first question is: if arising and cessation have already revealed the truth of suffering, why must higher knowledge still arise?

The author first counters with “What use is there in causing a vision of cessation to arise?” and only then gives the criterion: gone to the boundary. The two graphs 往邊 occur only once in the entire treatise. One must continue until the dangers of formations have been exhausted, the mind has arisen from the characteristic of formations, and it has crossed over in the non-formation. Only then is that suffering fulfilled.

The simile is a bird leaving a ring of fire. The center of gravity is not merely leaving the fire, but seeing the whole only after reaching the outside. While the bird remains surrounded, it has not escaped fear. It flies out into open sky and looks back upon the ring of fire; only then does it see the danger of the enclosure.

The second question is: must every place among all formations be contemplated?

The answer says that one grasps their sign at the initial place among formations, penetrates arising and cessation without remainder, and thereby fulfills all formations. The simile is a tongue tasting seawater: one lick at one place in the great ocean reveals that all its water is salty. One place is enough.

One says to fly outside; the other says a single taste will do. They appear to be exact opposites.

Here is a reading tool worth carrying away: when two similes in one passage point in opposite directions, do not reconcile them too quickly. First ask which question each is answering.

Once separated in this way, they become clear. The first question concerns depth: how far must vision proceed before it is fulfilled? The second concerns breadth: must every place be contemplated? Depth admits no discount; breadth does not require exhaustive enumeration. Each simile governs one dimension, so they do not conflict.

The middle passage establishes four dhammas: the dhamma of one characteristic, the dhamma of various characteristics, the dhamma of no entity, and 正法, the “right dhamma.” One feature calls for a pause: 正法 never appears again below. All five later occurrences instead read 止法, the “stopping dhamma.” At the last occurrence, moreover, four witnesses again read 正. If those witnesses are followed, the place of the irregularity merely moves; it does not disappear. This edition retains the visibly different 正法 and 止法 without standardizing them.

The four dhammas are used to undo grasping, and four visions correspond one for one to four graspings: vision of arising undoes grasping at variety, vision of cessation undoes grasping at oneness, vision of beginning and end undoes grasping at self, and vision of dhammas undoes grasping at no entity. But the immediately following list concerning ordinary people names what they fail to awaken to as one, various, no entity, and dhamma, and names the resulting assertions as permanence-and-annihilation, permanence, self, and no entity. The names differ, the orders differ, and this list does not align with the preceding one. The text is retained without forcing an alignment.

At the end, the penetration of characteristics has only three members: the dhamma of oneness awakens to the characteristic of suffering, diversity awakens to impermanence, and both the dhamma of no entity and 止法 awaken to not-self. Four dhammas converge into three characteristics, with the last two sharing one.

The closing sentence binds two names together: knowledge of arising and cessation is analytical knowledge of formations. The other occurrence of the shorter name “analytical knowledge” is the close two units earlier: analytical knowledge closes there, and knowledge of arising and cessation closes here. Between those two closings lies the full movement of grasping signs and penetrating them.

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Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · Penetration and Fulfillment of Knowledge of Arising and Cessation · Doorway · Summer 2026

First Question: If the Truth of Suffering Has Been Seen, Why Must Higher Knowledge Arise?

Question: If one has seen the truth of suffering through arising and cessation and has obtained vision through the characteristic, why must higher knowledge arise?

Answer: What use is there in causing a vision of cessation to arise? What was to be seen through the characteristic of the truth of suffering has not yet been seen completely; only then is suffering fulfilled. One must continue until the dangers of formations have been exhausted and seen in accordance with reality, the mind has arisen from the characteristic of formations and crossed over in the non-formation, and the dangers of formations have been seen in accordance with reality. The mind has arisen from the characteristic of formations and crossed over in the non-formation. Here the seeing of suffering is fulfilled, because one has gone to the boundary.

It is like a bird surrounded by fire that has not escaped fear. If it has not yet reached the open sky, it sees the danger of the encircling fire and flies into the open sky. At that point its seeing of the fearfulness of the encircling fire is fulfilled. Fulfillment should be understood in the same way.

Penetration Through the Three Ways, Continuing the Preceding Passage

Here, through cause, condition, and vision of arising, one penetrates the characteristic of arising through causes and conditions: when this exists, this arises; because this arises, this comes to arise.

Because the cause ceases and the condition ceases, seeing the cause and condition of cessation penetrates the characteristic of birth: when this does not exist, this does not come to be; because this ceases, this ceases.

Through own flavor and through arising and cessation, what has arisen is seen and penetrated.

Four Dhammas Known

One knows the arising of conditioned dhammas and conditioned phenomena: their arising is known, their cessation is also known, and their presence is also known.

Thus four dhammas become known through seeing arising and cessation: the dhamma of one characteristic, the dhamma of various characteristics, the dhamma of no entity, and 正法—literally the “right dhamma.”

The fourth name in the heading is 正法, with the graph 正 (“right”). The five occurrences in the explanation below are instead 止法, with 止 (“stopping”). The two visibly different forms are retained without standardization. The last occurrence has a critical note.

Four Visions Undo Four Graspings

Here, formations attached to one continuity arise; that vision does not establish grasping at variety.

Through seeing their cessation, grasping at oneness is not established: formations are separated from own-nature and unmoving.

Through seeing beginning and end, grasping at self is not established: formations at beginning and end turn through conditions.

Thus through seeing dhammas, grasping at no entity is not established.

Four Assertions of Ordinary People

An uninstructed ordinary person, through not awakening to the “one,” makes assertions of permanence and annihilation; through not awakening to the “various,” makes an assertion of permanence; through not awakening to “no entity,” makes an assertion of self.

Thus, through not awakening to “dhamma,” such a person makes an assertion of no entity.

The order in the list of graspings is variety, oneness, self, and no entity. The order in the list of what ordinary people fail to awaken to is one, various, no entity, and dhamma, while the resulting assertions are permanence-and-annihilation, permanence, self, and no entity. The names and orders of the two lists do not correspond. This is recorded without forcing a correspondence.

Oneness and Diversity

Here, through language of equality and superior language of one characteristic:

Various characteristics are gathered as one characteristic; through the meaning of distinction, they become various.

Through the meaning of defilement, they become one in nature; through the meaning of method, they become diverse in nature.

Through the fruit of craving, they become one in nature; through the fruit of action, they become diverse in nature.

Three pairs are given, with none omitted.

When the meditator sees oneness in this way, the meditator does not grasp a view of diversity there. When the meditator sees diversity, the meditator does not grasp a permanent view of oneness there.

When one directly sees oneness, one removes the view that one person acts and another experiences. When one directly sees diversity, one removes the view that the same person acts and experiences.

When one directly sees oneness, one removes the annihilationist view. When one directly sees diversity, one removes the eternalist view.

The Dhamma of No Entity and 止法, the Stopping Dhamma

Seeing oneness and diversity through arising and cessation, the meditator asks: Through what does clarity concerning dhammas arise? Formations arise in the present, and one sees that they have no entity.

Why? All formations have no entity and do not move. Nothing else arises and remains; they remain in their own nature, and the gathering together of conditions serves as condition.

Thus, through the arising of 止法, the “stopping dhamma,” arising is produced. Here, through the meanings of having no life and being unmoving, the dhamma of no entity can be known; through the meanings of own-nature and condition, 止法 can be known.

It reveals emptiness and no entity and reveals what action has made. In this way, 止法 reveals no entity and is called dhamma; in this way, what reveals 止法 is called formation.

Here, through the dhamma of oneness one awakens to and penetrates the characteristic of suffering; through diversity one awakens to and penetrates the characteristic of impermanence; through awakening with the dhamma of no entity and through awakening with 止法, one penetrates the characteristic of not-self.

Second Question: Must All Formations Be Contemplated, or Is One Place Enough?

Question: Must the meditator contemplate arising and cessation in every place among all formations, without exception, or should one contemplate in one place?

Answer: At an initial place among formations, one grasps their sign and penetrates arising and cessation without remainder; all formations are thereby fulfilled.

It is like a person licking water at one place in the great ocean and immediately knowing that all its water is salty. This should be understood in the same way.

Fulfilled in Two Ways: Knowledge of Arising and Cessation Is Analytical Knowledge of Formations

Formations are fulfilled in two ways: through an occasion and through non-delusion.

Here, among the formations whose sign is grasped, arising and cessation are penetrated; those formations are fulfilled through their occasion. Because lack of knowledge has been abandoned, the remaining formations are fulfilled through non-delusion.

Here, knowledge of arising and cessation is analytical knowledge of formations. All formations are distinguished through the initial boundary of arising and the final boundary of cessation; they are stilled through the initial boundary of arising and the existing boundary of cessation; through arising from arising there is no beginning, and through cessation from cessation there is no end.

Therefore knowledge of arising and cessation becomes analytical knowledge of formations. (Knowledge of arising and cessation has ended.)

Among these three pairs, the first uses 初邊／後邊—“initial boundary / final boundary”—while the second uses 初邊／有邊—“initial boundary / existing boundary.” The second graph of the latter pair is not 後 (“final”) but 有 (“existing”). The visibly different forms are retained without standardization.

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Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · Penetration and Fulfillment of Knowledge of Arising and Cessation · Vernacular · Summer 2026

The passage asks two questions, each answered with a simile.

The central observation is this: the directions of the two similes are exactly opposite. The bird leaving the ring of fire must reach the outside before seeing the whole; the tongue tasting seawater knows the whole from one place. Within one passage, one says, “It does not count until you reach the boundary,” and the other, “One place is enough.” They do not conflict, because they answer different questions.

First Question: If Suffering Has Already Been Seen, Why Must Higher Knowledge Arise?

The question is direct: “Question: If one has seen the truth of suffering through arising and cessation and has obtained vision through the characteristic, why must higher knowledge arise?” 〔T32 455a25–26〕.

The answer begins by asking back: “What use is there in causing a vision of cessation to arise? What was to be seen through the characteristic of the truth of suffering has not yet been seen completely; only then is suffering fulfilled” 〔T32 455a26–27〕.

It does not answer directly, but first poses a counterquestion. Then it says that one must continue “until the dangers of formations have been exhausted and seen in accordance with reality, the mind has arisen from the characteristic of formations, and crossed over in the non-formation” 〔T32 455a27–28〕. Only then is suffering fulfilled.

Where is the criterion? In two Chinese graphs: “Here the seeing of suffering is fulfilled, because one has 往邊—gone to the boundary” 〔T32 455b01〕. Gone to the boundary. The phrase occurs only once in the whole treatise.

The simile follows: “It is like a bird surrounded by fire that has not escaped fear. If it has not yet reached the open sky, it sees the danger of the encircling fire and flies into the open sky” 〔T32 455b01–03〕.

Its center of gravity must be seen clearly. The point is not merely leaving the fire, but seeing the whole only after reaching the outside. While the bird remains encircled, fear has not been escaped. It flies out into open sky and looks back upon the ring of fire; only then does it see the danger of the whole enclosure.

Fulfillment of seeing suffering works the same way. Seeing suffering while still within it is not fulfillment. One reaches the boundary of formations, the mind arises from the characteristic of formations, crosses over in the non-formation, and looks back. Only then is it fulfilled.

One critical note occurs here. The base says, “if it has not yet reached the open sky”; four witnesses read “if it flies to the open sky.” The base speaks of the time before arrival, the witnesses of the act of flying there—the temporal directions of the two readings are opposite. Both are recorded without adjudication; the body follows the base.

The Four Dhammas: The Heading Has 正, the Five Explanations Have 止

The answer then returns to the three ways of 12-04 and gives one four-part formula for arising and another for cessation. The arising side says, “Through cause, condition, and vision of arising, one penetrates the characteristic of arising through causes and conditions. When this exists, this arises; because this arises, this comes to arise” 〔T32 455b04–05〕. The cessation side says, “Because the cause ceases and the condition ceases, seeing the cause and condition of cessation penetrates the characteristic of birth. When this does not exist, this does not come to be; because this ceases, this ceases” 〔T32 455b05–07〕.

Four dhammas are then established: “One knows the arising of conditioned dhammas and conditioned phenomena: their arising is known, their cessation is also known, and their presence is also known” 〔T32 455b08–09〕; “Thus four dhammas become known through seeing arising and cessation: the dhamma of one characteristic, the dhamma of various characteristics, the dhamma of no entity, and 正法” 〔T32 455b09–10〕.

The four names are the dhamma of one characteristic, the dhamma of various characteristics, the dhamma of no entity, and 正法, the ‘right dhamma.’

Yet 正法 never appears again below. Five explanatory occurrences all read 止法, the “stopping dhamma”: “Thus, through the arising of 止法, arising is produced; through the meanings of having no life and being unmoving, the dhamma of no entity can be known” 〔T32 455b27–28〕; “through the meanings of own-nature and condition, 止法 can be known” 〔T32 455b28–29〕; “止法 reveals no entity and is called dhamma; what reveals 止法 is called formation” 〔T32 455b29–455c02〕; and “through awakening with the dhamma of no entity and through awakening with 止法, one penetrates the characteristic of not-self” 〔T32 455c03–04〕.

止法 occurs six times in the whole treatise, five here; 正法 occurs four times in the whole work, once here in the heading.

Why does the heading use 正 while the five explanations use 止?

The passage cannot answer. Three things are checkable: the heading uses 正 once; the explanation uses 止 five times; and the last occurrence has a critical note in which four witnesses read 正. If those witnesses are followed, the final occurrence agrees with the heading while the middle four still read 止. The location of the irregularity changes; it does not disappear.

This edition retains both forms without standardization. The readings are recorded without adjudication, and the body follows the base.

Four Visions Undo Four Graspings, but the Four Assertions of Ordinary People Do Not Align

Once the four dhammas have been established, the author uses them against grasping: “Formations attached to one continuity arise; that vision does not establish grasping at variety” 〔T32 455b10–11〕. “Through seeing their cessation, grasping at oneness is not established” 〔T32 455b12〕. “Through seeing beginning and end, grasping at self is not established; formations at beginning and end turn through conditions. Thus through seeing dhammas, grasping at no entity is not established” 〔T32 455b12–14〕.

Four visions answer four graspings one for one: vision of arising undoes grasping at variety, vision of cessation undoes grasping at oneness, vision of beginning and end undoes grasping at self, and vision of dhammas undoes grasping at no entity.

The passage immediately turns to ordinary people: “An uninstructed ordinary person, through not awakening to the one, makes assertions of permanence and annihilation; through not awakening to the various, makes an assertion of permanence; through not awakening to no entity, makes an assertion of self” 〔T32 455b14–15〕; “through not awakening to dhamma, such a person makes an assertion of no entity” 〔T32 455b16〕.

Set the two lists side by side and they do not align. The graspings in the first are variety, oneness, self, and no entity. What is not awakened to in the second is one, various, no entity, and dhamma; the resulting assertions are permanence-and-annihilation, permanence, self, and no entity. The names differ and so does the order.

The wording is retained without making the two lists correspond. This edition does not pull them into alignment on the author’s behalf.

Three Pairs, Then Four “Removals”

Oneness and diversity follow: “Various characteristics are gathered as one characteristic; through the meaning of distinction, they become various” 〔T32 455b17–18〕; “through the meaning of defilement, they become one in nature; through the meaning of method, diverse in nature” 〔T32 455b18–19〕; “through the fruit of craving, they become one in nature; through the fruit of action, diverse in nature” 〔T32 455b19〕.

Three pairs are given, none omitted. The first uses “one characteristic / various,” while the latter two use “oneness / diversity”; the suffixes differ and are retained.

Four “removals” follow. “When one directly sees oneness, one removes the view that one person acts and another experiences” 〔T32 455b21–22〕—the first two removals are in this paired movement. “When one directly sees oneness, one removes the annihilationist view; when one directly sees diversity, one removes the eternalist view” 〔T32 455b23–24〕—the final two. The phrase “removes this” occurs seven times in the work and four times here.

Seeing oneness removes the annihilationist view; seeing diversity removes the eternalist view. Oneness and diversity each remove one extreme while also checking one another: “When the meditator sees oneness in this way, the meditator does not grasp a view of diversity there” 〔T32 455b19–20〕.

This section has three countable levels. First are three pairs—one characteristic and various, oneness and diversity, oneness and diversity—establishing. Next come two sentences preventing mutual grasping—guarding. Finally come four removals—breaking. Establishing, guarding, and breaking are all present, using only the pair “oneness / diversity.” The same pair performs three tasks in one section: first distinguishing, then preventing each side from hardening against the other, and finally removing one extreme each. This edition records the pattern without supplying the author’s reason.

The Dhamma of No Entity and 止法: Two Meanings Each, Then One Shared Characteristic

The passage turns to the dhamma of no entity and 止法: “Formations arise in the present, and one sees that they have no entity” 〔T32 455b25〕; “all formations have no entity and do not move; nothing else arises and remains; they remain in their own nature, and the gathering together of conditions serves as condition” 〔T32 455b26–27〕.

Each of the two dhammas is linked to two meanings: the dhamma of no entity to having no life and being unmoving; 止法 to own-nature and condition.

Yet there are only three penetrated characteristics: “Through the dhamma of oneness one awakens to and penetrates the characteristic of suffering; through diversity one awakens to and penetrates the characteristic of impermanence” 〔T32 455c02–03〕; “through awakening with the dhamma of no entity and through awakening with 止法, one penetrates the characteristic of not-self” 〔T32 455c03–04〕.

Four dhammas but three characteristics: the dhamma of oneness awakens to suffering, diversity to impermanence, while the dhamma of no entity and 止法 both awaken to not-self. The final two dhammas join in one characteristic. This is recorded without dividing them.

Reading Practice: When Two Similes Conflict, Ask Which Question Each Answers

The second question turns in another direction: “Question: Must the meditator contemplate arising and cessation in every place among all formations, without exception, or should one contemplate in one place?” 〔T32 455c04–05〕.

The answer is: “At an initial place among formations, one grasps their sign and penetrates arising and cessation without remainder; all formations are thereby fulfilled” 〔T32 455c05–07〕; “It is like a person licking water at one place in the great ocean and immediately knowing that all its water is salty” 〔T32 455c07–08〕.

One place is enough.

Set the two similes side by side. The bird must fly out before seeing the whole; the tongue needs only one taste to know the whole ocean. One requires reaching the boundary, the other says one place is sufficient. They appear to point in opposite directions.

The reading practice is this: when two similes in one passage point oppositely, do not reconcile them first. Ask first which question each answers.

The first question concerns depth: to what point must seeing proceed before it is fulfilled? The answer says fulfillment requires the boundary, so the bird must leave the ring of fire. The second concerns breadth: must every formation be contemplated one by one? The answer says grasping a sign in one place fulfills them all, so one taste of seawater is enough.

Depth admits no discount; breadth does not require exhaustive enumeration. Each simile governs one dimension, so the two do not conflict. This edition records the contrast without supplying the author’s reason.

Fulfilled in Two Ways: Knowledge of Arising and Cessation Is Analytical Knowledge of Formations

The close gives two ways: “Formations are fulfilled in two ways: through an occasion and through non-delusion” 〔T32 455c08–09〕; “because lack of knowledge has been abandoned, the remaining formations are fulfilled through non-delusion” 〔T32 455c10–11〕. The formations whose sign has been grasped are fulfilled through their occasion; the remaining formations through non-delusion. This division explains how a sign grasped in one place can fulfill them all.

The closing joins knowledge of arising and cessation to analytical knowledge of formations: “Here, knowledge of arising and cessation is analytical knowledge of formations” 〔T32 455c11〕; “all formations are distinguished through the initial boundary of arising and the final boundary of cessation” 〔T32 455c11–12〕; “they are stilled through the initial boundary of arising and the existing boundary of cessation; through arising from arising there is no beginning, and through cessation from cessation there is no end” 〔T32 455c13–14〕; “therefore knowledge of arising and cessation becomes analytical knowledge of formations. (Knowledge of arising and cessation has ended)” 〔T32 455c14–15〕.

The second of the three pairs differs in writing: the first is 初邊／後邊 (“initial boundary / final boundary”), the second 初邊／有邊 (“initial boundary / existing boundary”), and the third 無初／無後 (“no beginning / no end”). The second graph is 有, “existing,” not 後, “final.” No critical note occurs here. The forms are retained without standardization.

“Knowledge of arising and cessation” and “analytical knowledge of formations” occur three and two times respectively, all here. The other occurrence of the shorter name “analytical knowledge” is the closing of 12-02 〔T32 454b28–29〕. Analytical knowledge closes there; knowledge of arising and cessation closes here. Between the two lies the full movement of grasping signs and penetrating them.

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Take away three things. One observation: the passage’s two questions each receive a simile pointing in the opposite direction. The bird leaves the ring of fire 〔T32 455b01–03〕 because the whole cannot be seen before reaching the outside; the tongue tastes seawater 〔T32 455c07–08〕 and knows the whole from one place. They do not conflict because one answers a question of depth and the other of breadth. One reading practice: when two similes conflict, do not reconcile them first; identify the question each answers. One pause: the fourth dhamma is named 正法 in the heading 〔T32 455b10〕 but appears below five times as 止法; at the final occurrence, four witnesses again read 正 〔T32 455c04〕. Following those witnesses moves the irregularity but does not remove it. Both forms are retained without standardization; the body follows the base.

Three smaller points also matter. The first answer begins with the counterquestion “What use is there in causing a vision of cessation to arise?” 〔T32 455a26〕. Four visions answer four graspings one for one, but the names and order of the ordinary person’s four assertions do not correspond 〔T32 455b10–16〕. Finally, four dhammas yield three characteristics: the dhamma of no entity and 止法 both awaken to not-self 〔T32 455c03–04〕, and the wording is retained without division.

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Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · Penetration and Fulfillment of Knowledge of Arising and Cessation · Exposition · Summer 2026